In a name
by Colorslander
Summary: Haruno Sakura finds the true meaning of her name, and a chance encounter with the villianous Uchiha prodigy will force her come to terms to what it means.
1. prologue

**In a Name**

-l-

Silent Shadow

-l-

While Haruno Sakura is waiting for Naruto and Sasuke to return, she has a strange talk with her mother. She starts to understand the meaning behind her name.

-l-

-l-

Haruno Sakura was a not too pretty, but definitely not ugly, kind of girl. She liked to think about boys. She wanted to become a better kunoichi. She studied hard to get where she was.

She was a normal twelve year old girl, with a normal family.

Sakura. Cherry blossoms.

Haruno. Spring.

It was almost comical how well her name fit.

Sakura sat in her room, staring blankly at the white-wash wall. Her roseate bangs hung dully beside her green eyes; they were a pain sometimes since they got in the way of her vision. But she didn't really have anything to look at this moment.

She didn't like it. She didn't like waiting.

It irked her that she was doing nothing while Naruto was off chasing after Sasuke.

Sasuke, a dark haired enigma. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his handsome face. Every time there was silence, he could here his voice.

"_Thank you._"

He was a traitor to the village. She had given him everything she could, promised more than that was hers, but he discarded it like it meant nothing. He was rude to her. He cared more about obtaining power than trying to treat her with respect.

Every ounce of her common sense told her to drop him.

Love didn't follow common sense.

Sakura sprawled eagle-spread on her lumpy pink-covered bed; she didn't feel like moving much.

Then again, she didn't feel not like doing anything.

Waiting was a painfully confusing.

"Haruno Sakura," her mother's voice rang stern, "Come down here."

Sakura hesitated before leaving the comfort of her soft bed. Begrudgingly, she shifted her feet across the carpeted hallway and down her stairs. She trudged to the kitchen where her mother was faithfully chopping onions for tonight's lunch. Her mother was thin, older and prettier version of herself- though her mother had a stronger presence and a solemn look in her eyes, and she kept her pink hair in a strict tight bun.

"What will you do Sakura? Brood all day doing nothing?" she didn't look up from her onions.

"Maybe."

"Is it because of the Uchiha."

"Sasuke-kun."

"Hn."

Sakura looked at her mother as she went through the mechanics of making dinner.

The mechanics of a family is something that the Haruno household excels at. Her father was an accountant for Konoha, he dutifully brought in the revenue. The mother was a typical housewife. She cleaned, cooked, and asked how the father did at work when he got home. And he would always say, "good." And then ask how Sakura was kunoichi business. And Sakura would say OK.

Because that's what a good family did. It was so generic it was cold.

The mother was good at being a mother, her father was good at being a father. But they where little more than that, they weren't mom or dad.

It was her family, normal as it is, that finalized her decision for her to be akunoichi. She didn't want to be that woman, in a typical stolid marriage. She would find _real_ love. She would be strong and make a living.

She would be alive.

But lately...

"Waiting is hard," Sakura finally commented.

"It is, but the time you have you don't have to waste. How about studying a little," her mother said. Annoying her daughter about her studies is what a typical mother did.

Sakura didn't respond, but she spotted an apple on the table. Almost instinctively, she reached for the fruit and stared at it dispassionately.

Her mother looked at her out of the corner of her eye, and raised her brow when she watched Sakura go to a drawer and pull out a knife. Sakura narrowed her eyes in concentration as she carefully peeled the apple.

She had found it a bit strange, her actions. Sakura's mother did the same thing when there was nothing to do, slicing apples was her trademark. After watching over a unconscious Sasuke, Sakura adopted the annoying habit as her own. Life had a thing for bitter irony.

With skillful precision, she sliced the apple into equal eighths. Sakura noted, slightly morbidly, that no one of her family was a fan of apples, and the perfect pieces her mother's apple often were forgotten. She grimaced at the memory of Sasuke stepping all over the slices she prepared for him.

Yes, life was a sadist.

She looked at her work with little satisfaction, and then her hand reached for another apple.

"Was it a joke?" she asked.

Her mother glanced at her confused, "Was what a joke?"

"My name. You know. Haruno Sakura. Spring cherry blossoms. It's really quite original."

Her mother didn't say anything, but Sakura noted a shadow flicker in her eyes as she turned her back on Sakura.

"Sakura, what do you think of when you see a cherry blossom tree."

"That you and father once had a sense of humor."

"Besides that."

"It sure takes a long time to blossom, but when it does... it's-"

Her mother stopped cutting the onions to wipe away the tears from her eyes. Tears from the onions... or...

"Gorgeous. When one sees it, their heart explodes from the site of them. A true nature's blessing."

"Is that why you named me Sakura?"

She began chopping the onions again.

"But soon after they bloom, they die Sakura. They're beautiful when they're here but they quickly wilt away in the wind. That moment of glory dies as abruptly as it came."

There was a long dead silence in the room, Sakura could hear nothing but the rhythmic pounding of her mother's knife as it connected to the cutting board.

"_You have grown into... a beautiful flower Sakura."_

Sakura didn't realize she stopped peeling her apple. She forced herself to continue cutting it.

"So you named me after the bitterness of your marriage. Wonderful."

"Have you heard of the Kuroko curse?" her mother asked her.

"Kuroko curse?" Sakura racked her mind. She was sure Kuroko was a name, perhaps a clan name, but she didn't know anyone that held the last name Kuroko. "Why does it matter to me?"

"It's the last name of your ancestors."

"I've memorized our family tree. You or your grandmother's maiden names weren't Kuroko."

"It's the maiden name of our great great grandmothers, since the curse is only passed on the females."

"Oh," Sakura paused, "curse?"

She idly wondered if it was like the Hyuga branch curse that Neji constantly brooded about.

As if her mother read or her she said, "Nothing like that. Do you know what the name Kuroko means?"

Sakura said nothing.

"Black child. Do you know why Sakura? It's a cry for help, a warning to the women. Generations upon generation...

"The curse of the Kuroko on the females. Too be like me. To fall in love, only to be stuck in a world of forsaken expectations. All your dreams fall short, a life that is good but... empty."

Her mother had finished cutting the onions, and placed them in a bowl beside the cutting board. She wiped her face on her sleeve before facing Sakura.

"Do you understand now?"

Sakura gritted her teeth. All she worked for was in vain? Her childish pursuit of love, her hours of tedious studying, the scars on her arm where the sound-nin Zaku placed on her during the Chuunin exam...

It was a farce. She was going to loose to her dead great grandmother's name?

Sakura let the apple roll out of her hand and hit the floor with a sickening thud.

Her mother turned her back again.

Without another word, Sakura stood up so abruptly that her chair almost clattered on the floor. Sakura spun around, half walking, half racing to the door.

"Where are you going now, Sakura?"

"I'm going to wait by the gate for my teammates, because I believe in my dreams."

"..."

Sakura reached for the handle of her door, but didn't turn it.

"Do you want to know what I think about cherry blossoms, mother?" she continued without giving her mother a chance to speak, "That even after they wilt... they will always return next spring."

"I see."

"I'm a kunoichi before I am your daughter. I am a Haruno, and one day I hope to take another name. I will never be a Kuroko. Your curse is cheap and I refuse to accept it."

With that Sakura defiantly opened the door and slammed it behind her, taking off to the gate where she would wait for Naruto and Sasuke.

Her mother let a tiny smile slide on her face; perhaps Sakura could be the first to defeat this curse.

What is in a name after all?

-l-

-l-

[A/N] TEH ANGST!!111oneoneleven. My apologies... it's my venting. I'm not really proud of this work, but I had the idea screwed in my head for days and I felt if I didn't hurry and write a Sakura fanfiction my head would explode.

So you see, I _had_ to write this for the interest of my health.

Angst comes natural for me and I despise myself for that. I want to write something with a bit more substance than that, but I had a hard time thinking of something. Maybe I rush too much? I'll think of something better I promise, because this was just bordering on the line of whining-angst. But I tried to pull of something hopeful for the end.

I always envisioned Sakura's home to be sort of like this. Normal for the sake of normalcy. But maybe I'm just crazy. I wish someone would shed some light on her family other than "being there." I mean, we see Shikimaru's, Ino's, Shino's, ect. Why not a main character?

Kuroko came up in my searching for a morbid last name. Apparently Japanese last names are usually a combination of common words. -Kuro and –ko are supposedly common used. Kuro means black and ko means child.

This was suppose to be more of a Sasusaku fanfiction, but I sort of deviated from it. I think I'm more interested in Narusaku anyway. shrug

I'm done making excuses for myself.


	2. I: Introductions

**In a Name:**

-l-

Chapter 1- Introductions

Silent Shadow

-l-

Sakura paused before entering the building; she didn't want to go in. She was becoming all too familiar with the ominous plain building; she remembered that every time she set foot in there, an unpleasant feeling wormed in her stomach. She didn't quite understand what the sensation was, depression- maybe guilt. An ominous feeling indeed.

Haruno Sakura hated hospitals from the bottom of her heart.

-l-

_Naruto came back with Sasuke, beaten mentally and physically, dragging his battered body with him. Sakura was horrified at the sight of the two most precious people to her barely clinging to life. She ran to help Naruto with his burden, but all he did was give her his usually big goody grin._

_"Eh, Sakura-chan look," he wheezed happily, "I kept my promise. Promise of a li-"_

_He fell unconscious and both Sasuke and Naruto's dead weight tumbled down on her, pinning her helplessly to the ground._

-l-

Sakura had to shake the memory off and force herself back to the present. Daffodils still clutched in her small hand, Sakura took a deep breath and stepped inside the swinging doors. One step... two steps... three steps.

This wasn't so bad. It was eerily quiet, but that was sort of comforting.

"Ne ne, Sakura-chan!" a loud obnoxious voice rang.

She twitched with annoyance as a boisterous blond shinobi, dressed in hospital clothes, came dashing up to her. Naruto literally bounced his way to Sakura, waving his arms in the air enthusiastically trailed by a bunch of anxious nurses trying to shush them. They had long since attempted to get him to sit still; he always was a fast healer and full of energy.

"Naruto," she scolded, "be quiet!" But Sakura couldn't help it when she let a little smile peep through her annoyance. It was nice to see that Naruto was OK.

"Pft. Anyway, you here to see Sasuke?"

"Yeah. Oh right," she gave him one of her flowers she held, "this is for you."

"Eh? Flower?"

"Right."

"Thank you!" he said happily- his Sakura-chan had given him a gift and it was only out of fear of more injuries inflicted on him by his childhood crush that he didn't give her a bear hug.

Naruto's demeanor changed, "That Sasuke-bastard. With friends like him, I don't need enemies."

Sakura didn't fully understand what he meant, she had a silent agreement not to press anyone too hard on the details. Naruto began to guide Sakura to the hospital room where Sasuke laid.

"How's Sasuke-kun?"

She kept the honorific in habit, but it crossed her mind to drop it as Ino had. However, every time she thought of him, she couldn't get rid of the feelings she harbored. Letting go would be... impossible.

"He got his head back, after I beat it into him again. And the old-hag hokage reverted him back to his normal curse level, so he isn't as crazy as before. A curse like that messes with your head sometimes," he said sullenly. Sakura noted that he rubbed his stomach protectively.

They stopped outside of his door with the number 301 in thick black paint. Sakura was a bit timid about entering but Naruto, being his blunt self, nearly kicked down the door.

"Hey Sasuke-_chan_!"

Sakura sighed and followed him in.

"Sasuke-kun. Are you all right?"

He gave her the 'look', but said nothing. Which was OK, she didn't really expect one. They stood in silence for a long time.

She could really use an apple right about now.

"Is it going to be held soon?" Sasuke finally asked.

"Held?" Sakura tried to feign ignorance.

"The funerals."

Sakura winced. She knew that now Sasuke was sane, he finally began to comprehend his deeds he inadvertently had made...

Neji...

Choji...

She stopped her train of thought before it went too far.

"No. Old hag hokage wants to wait until Shikamaru and the others get better. Thinks it will be better if they could participate."

"Hn."

Another long silence. Sakura busied herself with placing the daffodil in a vase beside the bed.

"Sasuke-kun."

"...Hn."

She faced him, "I..."

She didn't know what she was going to say to him, "You're welcome."

"..." A memory flashed of when he left Konoha.

Another uncomfortable silence, it was like the new Team Seven theme song. Then, something interrupted it was a swift "puff" and a swirl of smoke.

"Kakashi-sensei?!?" Naruto cried out in relief. Sakura could see that, while Kakashi was safe from whatever his mission was, he was in pretty bad shape since he did not get to heal properly before he left. But thought of his condition dissipated when he looked at Sasuke sternly.

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke didn't reply to Kakashi, but he looked away in shame. That seemed to soften Kakashi a bit, but he still stood rigidly.

"You all have missions to do. You three are to mobilize and capture Mrs. Deushi parakeet," he handed Sakura the scroll.

"All three? I thought they were moving Genins in pairs."

"Well, we want to keep a close watch on somebody..."

Sasuke grimaced.

"I understand. What about you sensei? You're hurt."

His eye crinkled in a smile-like fashion as a way to comfort Sakura; "I'm fine. Just need a little rest."

And then he was gone in a less than dramatic puff of smoke.

-l-

"God damn bird," Sakura heard Naruto swear in the receiver of her headset, "This sucks. We'll never find it."

Sakura grunted in his receiver, mostly as a way to agree with Naruto without _actually_ admitting the idiot was right.

"Let's just do this," Sakura said exasperated. She was tired; she hadn't had a decent nights sleep since Gai-sensei came back with Sasuke over his shoulder. Now that Sasuke was well, or better than he'll ever really be, Sakura finally could feel the effects of sleep deprivation at its fullest.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Naruto said.

Sakura continued her fruitless findings around the suddenly-a-lot-more-large forest. It bugged her that Sasuke was on a mission, she had originally thought that he would go under twenty-four hour observation, or at least be disallowed any mission for awhile. It was as if his betrayal never happened.

Maybe that's just the way post-war shinobi villages are like.

"I think I've spotted it," Sasuke's monotone voice said, "I'm only a few meters North East from the house."

"Right," Sakura and Naruto chorused as they quickly changed their courses to meet up with Sasuke and catch that god-forsaken bird.

"Hey!" Naruto smiled jovially when he caught notice of Sakura, who was currently leaping on the branches underneath him.

Sakura smiled and then called Sasuke on her receiver, "How's the bird?"

There was no reply but she could hear heavy breaths coming from the other side.

"Sasuke-kun?"

No reply. Not even a 'hn.'

"Naruto I think there's something wrong with Sasuke-kun."

But it was already obvious to him, and he was speeding up to Sasuke's location.

"That bastard can't stay out of trouble."

Sakura didn't say anything but she pushed off the branches of the trees harder, gaining more momentum.

"_There he is,_" Sakura thought to herself in relief when she could see the silhouette of his body.

Coming closer she noticed to other shadowed figures, curious she sped up even more before landing next to Sasuke. Naruto also landed beside him on the other side.

"Who are they?" she asked Sasuke, but then stopped. There was a look on Sasuke's eyes that she hadn't seen since he challenged Naruto to the battle and tried to spear him with the Chidori.

Pure, unadulterated anger. His eyes seethed it, his body tensed. His impassive mask broken and showing what he truly felt.

But that didn't compare to the look on Naruto's face. _Fear._ He was shaking, and whatever confidence Sakura had was gone. Naruto... was scared?

She looked at the two figures in the distance.

"Tch. Only two genins? This is going to be boring. You can do this yourself, right? No need for me to get involved"

Sakura felt her heart sink, the man that was talking looked powerful. Too powerful, he didn't even look human- almost like a shark. He grinned menacingly, sharp teeth glistening, and he swung a large bandaged sword from his shoulder to resting on the tree limb before sitting down.

The other didn't even nod in agreement, he just stood there. Unlike the other, his stature didn't seem to as dominant, but he was different. He didn't look power, but he breathed it. He reeked of strength.

She felt her through tighten. She never saw him before knew who this one.

"Get it done in a hurry, Itachi."

Uchiha Itachi, the calm stolid figure, his face showed less emotions that Sasuke's. Everything he did was so subtle, but it full of malice.

"Can we run?" she asked Sasuke uncertainly.

He frowned, "No. He'd catch us. All we can do is fight."

Sakura didn't know if he could give an objective answer, especially not since he looked like he just wanted to jump in and give it his all. And not the way that his hand unconsciously reached for his neck.

"We just have to fend then off until Anbu can arrive," Naruto managed to say.

Sakura adjusted the frequency of her headset, "Come in Konoha, this is team seven. Uchiha Itachi's has been spotted."

"Calling for help?" the fish-man asked, "You won't last that long."

Sakura said nothing. She knew they wanted Naruto, for some odd reason, and would take him alive. And she knew that Itachi would keep Sasuke alive for "who knows why" personal reasons.

She, though, was expendable.

" Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto screamed, making the first move. Thousands Narutos were created, grinning menacingly.

"Henge No Jutsu!" Two thirds of the Naruto's screamed, successfully turning into an army of Sasukes and Sakuras.

"Good move," she thought, "Itachi will have to be careful not to kill since he doesn't know who is Naruto." For all he knew Naruto could be pretending to be Sakura. All at once the clones ambushed, and Sakura felt it was best if she went along so not to look out of place.

They all scrambled to hit Itachi but he quickly disposed of them with some ninjutsu that Sakura never seen before.

"Ryuuka no Jutsu!" the real Sasuke cried and a stream of powerful fire burst from his mouth.

Itachi mimicked him calmly, " Ryuuka no Jutsu." His flame was twice as powerful. Sasuke barely got away before the fire reached where he was, setting clones ablaze, not to mention setting the forest on fire. Free mobility for the clones were lost.

Sakura felt an opening and threw some kunai's with exploding tags, hoping if it didn't hit then at least he would catch them in reflex. Itachi didn't though, and without even looking back he threw his own projectile weapons to meet them, and a few extra to dissipate more clones.

Sakura never knew anyone to casually kill off clones with such nonchalance.

She watched as a Sakura clone bite her thumb, it was a transformed Naruto. She watched as began to do the hand seals for a summoning.

Itachi must have noticed because he also did hand seals, much quicker than Naruto, and there was a clone of him behind Naruto.

"Crap," Naruto jumped away before the clone could explode near him, taking out a few more clones.

Itachi then did another fire technique, Katon Housenka, to get rid of as many clones as he could before Naruto could disappear in the crowd.

Noticing a cluster of leaves around Itachi, Sakura grabbed a fistful of some around her and threw it near the pile. Mentally thanking Ino, she started to create a rope of chakra through the leaves that wrapped around Itachi.

She grinned, she knew that Itachi saw what was happening but chose to ignore it. His own fault for being so damn cocky.

The real Sasuke noticed what she had done, " Konoha Shunshin no Jutsu!" In a flair of leaves he disappeared from where he was to behind Itachi.

"Chidori!" Sasuke pummeled towards Itachi while Sakura tried her best to hold him still.

However his technique only hit a spare trunk, he replaced himself. Sakura swore, she didn't even see him do the hand seals. She should have known that the technique wasn't going to hold him like it held her.

"Sakura, get out of there!" Naruto cried out and a swarm of Naruto's came to protect her as Itachi came after her. Sakura knew that had given away her position and tried to move but she was almost out of chakra. Itachi hit the clones with enormous force, including the real Naruto.

"Idiot," she said, "The real you didn't have to come..."

Itachi looked calm, but she could see annoyance edge in his eyes, and before she knew it, his sharingan changed shape. She gasped, she had never seen Kakashi or Sasuke do _that _with their eyes.

It was... frightening.

"Tsukuyomi," he whispered staring Naruto dead in the eye, and Naruto seemed to collapse into himself.

"No!" Sakura screamed and she smacked into Naruto, forcing him to break eye contact, Sakura however glanced at his strange eyes and before she knew it...

-l-

"This place... is red?" Sakura asked, and then she tried to move her arms but they wouldn't budge. She was tied down? To a cross?

"Where am I?" she asked becoming alarmed as she tried to squirm around.

"So I got the wrong person? How annoying," Itachi said without any noticeable emotion in his voice.

"Where..." she repeated.

"You are in my own little world," he said coolly. Sakura looked around; there were more of her, all confined crucifix style. Then... there were more of Itachi. A Genjutsu?

"I control everything here."

Her eyes rolled up; she saw a red moon, and power-lines?

"For the next seventy-two hours, you will be stabbed continuously and tortured by me."

He began to move a sword towards her body, and Sakura cried out in fear.

"_LIKE HELL YOU WILL!"_

For the first time Itachi's face showed an emotion, surprise. Behind him, not tied down to anything, was a larger, angrier form of Sakura.

"_YOU LITTLE BITCH! ALL OF THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"_

"What is this?" he asked frowning. This should not happen in his world.

The Sakura strapped to the cross looked at him with anger, "You hurt everyone I care about. Kakashi-sensei, Naruto, Sasuke-kun. And because of you... Choji, Neji. You did this to Sasuke and you drove him to insanity. Ino still can't stop crying."

"_BASTARD!"_

Her angrier inner-self grabbed a hold of Itachi. Instantly all the other Itachi's ran to help, but her other self brushed them off like they were nothing.

"I've got to end this..."

"_HELL NO! I THINK NOT!"_

Inner Sakura pinned him down.

"This is my... my world."

"_NOT ANYMORE! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"_

"No! That's only for..."

Itachi began to struggle under the other Sakura's grasp, and the battle of wills began. The red began to haze out and moon seemed to crumble.

"_YOU..."_

"I..."

And the world exploded.

-l-

He didn't ever remember being in a place that was so... bright. Nor had he ever known the blue or red sky to be pure white.

Itachi struggled to move, he was tired. He rose up with some effort and rested his head on his hands when he noticed how considerable smaller his hand become.

He was... thirteen again. Thirteen when _that_ happened.

Itachi looked around him, his surroundings were a comfortable blur. He could make out that he was in a field of white flowers, there were purple ones in the distance. Nothing else. This wasn't Konoha... or anywhere else he had ever been too.

How... strange.

"Who are you?" a small young voice asked. He looked behind him. It was the same girl as before, but younger, perhaps eight. And she looked sad, with tears forming in her sea-green eyes.

"Who are you?" he repeated without answering.

"I..." the little pink haired girl said timidly, "am Sakura. Kuroko Sakura."

-l-

[A/N] Hell yeah! Inner Sakura rocks my world.

Originally this was only going to be a oneshot, but I lately been plagued with funny images of Inner Sakura beating up Itachi. I couldn't ignore it, and instead of making another story, I just mixed it with In my Name. As you see it doesn't correlate a lot with the other chapter, so I made that into a prologue.

I vary rarely use caps. In fact usually I despise them, but there aren't a lot of ways you can show Inner Sakura. It didn't feel right without them. And normally I don't incorporate so many Japanese terms in this fic, but nothing else would make the fic sound like Naruto.

Before you freak out, I don't plan on making this an ItachixSakura. Sakura's thirteen, he's seventeen. It would be nice if you at least give her a few years. So Sakura is still a toss up for romance, but I just might not right any other than ones that fit their character. Focusing on romance often cheapens characters of my chapter stories.

I don't really plan too make this a long one, just a few chapters. Then I can move on. I don't really want a big obligation before the Naruto series finished (which hopefully will be _never!)_.

I don't know why I chose Itachi, I find the Uchiha brothers a bit glorified, but it was a fun plot. He;s fun the theorize with, plus I could never write Sasuke passed his fanfiction clichés. It's better this way.

All jutsus have been used before in the series. I didn't make them up, but researching them is a bit annoying really.

**Dragon's Shadow**Well now it's a chapter story... but the plot has totally changed. ;

**Maya Amano**: Thank you so much!

**animEvivvErz**: Would you believe that quote was not suppose to be in there, I changed it last minute. Glad you like it.

**CheeseKing** I'm glad you liked it!

**HikaruOfArrow**: Thanks.

**BurasMew: **Short stories of full of fun, but I changed it. I'm so undeceive.

**SacredGoggles**: No there isn't. That's shy Sakura is so interesting. I'm relieved that it didn't turn out whinny, I tried for it not too. You should write a Sakura fanfiction, not enough in this world!

**EmptySanity**: Aw, Sasusaku isn't that bad! But I'm glad you liked it.

Hm. Long Author Note.


	3. II: Mind breach

**In a name**

Chapter II: Mind breach

Silent Shadow

x-x-x-x-x-x

"Kuroko... Sakura."

x-x-x-x-x-x

Naruto was horrified when he realized what happened, mostly at himself for letting Sakura get the brunt of that attack. He saw her sea-foam gaze transfixed in Itachi's, and then he saw her wince horribly, and for a split second he saw her...

Angry?

Finally, Sakura collapsed and fell limply of the tree limb like a rag doll, spiraling gracefully towards the ground. If it wasn't for Naruto she would have hit it, he managed to grab her fallen figure half way to the ground and land on his feet.

"Sakura-can?!?" he shouted in desperation, but there was no movement. Naruto cursed, she didn't even look alive. He was pretty sure that whatever Itachi's freak eye thing did, it wasn't this. At least not to him.

He sent furious glares fuming with Kyuubi's essence at Itachi, but he too was falling from his branch unconscious.

"_What the hell?"_

Sasuke, however, didn't stay still with confusion, "Chidori!"

His followed Itachi to the ground with an outstretched hand that was eager to pierce his heart, but before he could Kisame interrupted.

"I think not kid," he said grinning before throwing him hard face-first in the ground. Kisame grabbed Itachi by his robes before landing on his feet effortlessly.

"Hey, wake up," he demanded shaking him a little, but there was no response, "Damnit. What's wrong with you?"

He faced Naruto; "You have the best luck I've ever seen kid."

With that he lifted Itachi on one shoulder, his sword on the next, and dashed off. Sasuke was seething at his last chance, ready to break something but Kisame was already gone.

"He... got away," he said gritting his teeth.

"We've got other things to worry about," Naruto called out to him. He shifted Sakura gently into a cradle position in his arms, "Something's wrong with Sakura-chan."

Sasuke finally tore his eyes from where his enemies retreated and looked at the two. Upon closer inspection of her lifeless body he swore.

"We have to take her to Hokage-sama."

"Yeah."

Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously jumped onto the nearby tree limbs ready to take off when they heard the elite anbu reinforcements Sakura called for arrive. A little late but better then never since who happened to accompany them was...

"Old hag?" Naruto cried out in surprise as Tsunade appeared before them, "Why are _you_ here?"

"Do you think a few anbu could have taken out Itachi?" she asked him irritably, shaking her blond head, "We don't have the numbers in the village to challenge him. So where is he?"

"The bastard ran," Sasuke spat, "And Sakura is hurt."

"Sakura," she remembered the pink haired girl that visited Sasuke often when Naruto brought him back. She took the girl from the arms of Naruto inspecting her.

"I'll take a better look at her after we get back," she promised him, "I don't like leaving the village unprotected."

Naruto and Sasuke nodded in understanding before the group vanished.

x-x-x-x-x-x

Sitting in the midst of the flower speckled meadow, Itachi decided he didn't like how bright it was; he always enjoyed the night more. Even when he was a child. It didn't help the fact that the field was covered with white flowers, the only other color he could see is purple, but that was way in the distance.

"Aren't you... going to tell me your name?" the younger version of Sakura asked.

Itachi didn't answer, he didn't even look at the roseate haired girl.

"Oh," she said softly, "It's ok... you don't have to."

Something about her timid voice was so pitiful that it stirred something inside him. He didn't like the feeling he had, whatever it was, not at all.

He busied himself with some hand seals, "Katon Housenka." Nothing, Itachi frowned and tried again. "Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu."

Itachi couldn't even feel his chakra. He tried activating his sharingan but that was no use.

"Are you trying to do ninjutsu?"

No reply.

"Is it because... you want to hurt me?"

Itachi finally looked at the small girl, "Yeah."

"You don't like me much?" he stared at her crestfallen face, "Nobody really likes me much. Except for Ino, but I was so mean to her. I even gave her ribbon back, and now I can hardly see through my bangs."

"I," he paused. He didn't really want to talk but he couldn't ignore her, she just kept talking- and he had a feeling she was going to cry. If he couldn't kill her then he didn't want to see her cry, that would just be... annoying.

"I just don't like anybody."

"Oh," she said calming down a little. Then, "...why?"

"Because."

Itachi hated conversation, he stood up and walked quickly away towards the purple flowers. He could feel the flowers and grass under his feet as he trampled them, but once he lifted his foot he noticed that they sprung back to life as if nothing happened. He dug his feet harder into the ground as he walked but it still did nothing.

The Sakura girl mutely followed him within earshot distance but shy enough not to follow too closely. When he looked back at her she quickly looked away but didn't stop following him.

They had walked a long time before he decided to stop, not because he was tired, since it was most likely impossible to in this world, but because it was pointless. He was still in a field of white flowers, the same distance away from the purple flowers since when he first started.

"Those flowers out there are pretty, but I can never get them; they're always so far away. The flowers are called cosmos. There's none around here... the only ones here are fujibakama."

Itachi turned to face the girl, "Is there anyone else here but us?"

Se lowered her eyes from him; he felt that she didn't like eye contact of confrontation.

"No, but there use to be. She was a lot like me, but she was angrier and stronger. She didn't like it here much, she called it a weak prison. She didn't like me much either, said I was weak for letting it imprison me here."

It confirmed his hypothesis; he knew where he was. This was inside the Sakura girl's head. The angry version of herself must be keeping him here. It explained why he couldn't used jutsus. He also knew the atmosphere was affecting him in a negative way, mentally that is. It was forcing him to go through his own emotions; it would explain why he reverted back to his thirteen year old self- before he had complete control of his emotions. And why he was so willing to talk.

He needed out, he needed out fast.

"You can't leave, not until the other Sakura lets you," she said as if she could read his mind, "But if you want you can rest a bit."

Sakura sat down carefully, as in invitation for him to settle down. Itachi didn't accept it.

"Those are some funny clothes," she said trying to start conversation, "What are they for."

Itachi looked down and knot in his stomach tied, "It's an anbu costume."

"What's an anbu? They sound familiar," the little girl said tilting her head.

"They're shinobi that specialize in military missions and killing their friends," he said coldly.

"Oh," Sakura looked at him with pity, "That doesn't sound fun."

"It's not fun."

There was a long silence, "Do you want to know what my name means?"

"What does it matter, a name," he said shortly.

Little Sakura gave him a sad a look, "You can tell a lot from a name."

"..." this world was making him open up a little, dwelling too much into people's minds.

"It means black child cherry blossom. Kind of silly huh? My mommy gave me that name, because I wilt very quickly. Ino told me that I bloomed and I was very pretty, but it doesn't matter anymore because I'm dead already."

There was nothing else to say, and they stood very still for a long time, in the field of white flowers.

"My name, is Uchiha Itachi."

"That's a nice name."

"Not it's not. Do you know what Itachi means? It means weasel."

"Really?" a small smile formed on her lips; "It's a funny name."

"Uchiha means fan. A pointless name."

"Nothing in a name is pointless."

"Why do you care so much about names?"

"Because..." there was a loss of words in her eyes. She didn't know _why_. It just was important.

"There's a tree over there," he added when she said nothing, sounding slight interested.

"It's a cherry blossom tree. But don't bother, it's not blooming. It's dead."

Itachi didn't reply but he started to track towards the tree, finally something to do.

x-x-x-x-x-x

"Hey, hey!" Naruto said loudly, getting on Tsunade's nerves. She loved the boy but right now she had to concentrate on her jutsu.

Tsunade was hovering over the unconscious Sakura with her hands just above Sakura's head, silent in her concentration.

"H-e-y!" he said drawling out the syllables until Sasuke smacked the back of his head.

"Ow," he rubbed his bump, "What was that for?"

"Just let her do what she's doing," he said irritated. Sasuke wanted to see Sakura back just as much as Naruto and he wanted, _needed_, to know what she did to Itachi.

"This is really weird," she finally said, "You said Itachi was unconscious too?"

"Who cares about him- can't you heal her?" Naruto asked her anxiously.

"It's not a matter of healing, she's fine. It's her consciousness that's the problem, it's not responding."

"Can't you do anything? You're the Hokage!"

"I could, but it seems that something else is in her head."

"Eh?"

Sasuke seemed to understand, "Itachi..."

"Your perceptive kid."

"What? How does that work?"

"Well from what I can understand from her mind, she's got another consciousness there, maybe two."

"Huh?" Naruto was confused.

"It's sort of like a split personality, something that Itachi's Tsukuyomi wasn't ready for. His ability allows him to draw someone's consciousness into his own, different from the usual when the user casts himself in the target. The Tsukuyomi allows total control."

"How was she able to counter it?" Sasuke asked eagerly.

"I don't think she did," Tsunade said, "he captured one consciousness, but not her other one. The actual jutsu work is pulling her mind into his own, a difficult feat, and then keeping it linked there for as long as he wants. Not only that but keeping the person's mental pain linked to the physical body."

Naruto nodded as if he understood. Tsunade rolled her eyed but continued.

"When he drew Sakura in, he leaves a small opening between the two minds so that their mental state will affect their physical state. The other Sakura was able to access his mind, and because she was still connected to her mind and not tied down like the 'real' Sakura she could fight back. From there on it isn't about his jutsu or chakra, just a battle of wills and souls."

"Oh! I get it!" Naruto said recalling the memory when he met Itachi, " And because Sakura has a lot of fighting spirit, and Itachi has the personality of gnat, she won!"

Tsunade's lips twitched, "She must have tried to fight him, and ended up dragging him into her own mind."

"So, why can't you heal her?"

"Because she's the one keeping Itachi at bay. If she wakes up, then so does he."

"So we're going to just to keep her as a vegetable!?" Naruto raged angrily.

"No, Sakura probably can't keep him forever, she'll let him go eventually. But she gave us time, he's vulnerable."

Tsunade motioned for her assistant to come over, "I want you to alert all the jounins and chuunins not on a mission as well as the anbu, they are to report immediately."

The assistant nodded before doing a "summoning no jutsu". Immediately, signal birds appeared and the assistant gave them quick commands before they flew past the group through the door.

"You two should leave," Tsunade said, before settling behind her desk and mounds of paperwork, "Get some rest. With everyone gone only the genins are here to protect the village."

Naruto didn't like the idea of leaving Sakura, but the prospect of defending the village from a less-than-probable attack somewhat excited him. He nodded and quickly left the room, ready to tell his friends what was happening.

"Sasuke, aren't you going to follow him?" she asked him.

"Hokage-sama. What would happen if we killed his body?"

"Without a physical body, his soul would have nowhere to go and he will die."

"Hokage-sama, what would happen if we killed Sakura?"

Tsunade paused, narrowing her eyes at the avenger, "Both her mind and Itachi's would die."

"..."

She took a good look at Sasuke's eyes, at first they seemed determined and angry, then they seemed to be in conflict, and then he looked away in shame at the very suggestion.

"Never mind what I said," he said curtly before leaving the room.

Tsunade, however, could not.

"Haruno Sakura... as Hokage of this village it would be irresponsible of me not to kill you now. As person... I don't know if I could kill someone innocent with my own hands. What should I do... only thirteen years old..."

x-x-x-x-x-x

The little Sakura looked up to the blank sky, "Do you hear it?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounded like... a person crying."

x-x-x-x-x-x

[AN] It's not very interesting right now. I'm not sure if it will ever be, because this is more of a character development thing than anything else. I could, you know, throw in an invasion of the village, but that would be more like a pointless distraction.

I just realized how hard it is to write Itachi, at least without him ranting on about Sasuke getting stronger or him trying to kill someone. So I sort of made the excu- I mean reason due to the fact that because they are in each others minds that their true personality comes out. Anyway, before anyone gets angry- there is no bashing in this fic. The Uchiha's are not my favorites but in no means I hate them- I love all the characters from Naruto and I find bashing idiotic. I just try to write the characters as they would react.

So this little Sakura was just a thought of mine. If she has Inner Sakura that represents her fighting spirit, how about a younger Sakura that represents her doubts and sorrow. I mean, the reason why we don't see her pop up like Inner Sakura is because she's quieter and Inner Sakura is more obnoxious and loud.

So yeah, right now they are in the deepest part of Sakura's mind, I hope I made it believable. It made sense in my own head but it's hard writing it down, hence the slightly painful end scene that really makes no sense.

**Girl-chama**I hope my explanation makes it more believeable. Thank you for reviewing, it means a lot. I have a lot of resepct for your work since your one of my favorite Naruto writers.

**animEvivvErz**: Yes, Inner Sakura does rock. Thank you for your compliments.

**Maya Amano**Thank you! Truth be told, I did play with the idea f ItachixSakura, but I figured this story didn't need it, there will be plenty of interaction and I'm not sure I could write it very well.

**Youkai Ryuu**: Thank you so much!

**Dargon Sheinto**: Well I hope I didn't disappoint you!

**agent vash** I'm glad you liked it.

**EmptySanity**: Yeah.. it happens to the best of us. But I'm happy you like the new story.

**LoUiSsE**: Thank you, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Oh and nunya, the cowardly reviewer... I have to say thank you. Your pitiful attempt of a flame made my friends and I laugh. Seriously, if you have some criticism, just say it without using your imaginary body parts.

I have to delete your review because this a PG-13 story and I don't want little kids to accidentally click the reviews, but truth be told- I didn't want to. I had entirely too much fun laughing at you.


	4. III: Time Decay

**In a Name**

Silent Shadow

III: Time Decay

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"You can go see the cherry blossom tree if you want... but it's already dead."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Kisame was irritated, and rightly so. He was an elite member of the infamous Akatsuki. He was a fighter an assassin, not some damned carrier. But here he was dragging the lifeless body of Itachi around. His job was not to baby-sit his soulless partner.

He had a half a mind just to kill Itachi.

Then again, he knew half the reason why he got away with half the fun he had on a mission is because no one in Akatsuki would dare mess with Itachi. And even when he was his partner; Itachi didn't really pay attention to what he did and let him go on his business. Besides, he didn't know how he was going to explain how one of the most prized members of Akatsuki just disappeared.

"Tch. Whatever," Kisame muttered, walking down the dusty street of some poor some strange poor village. It didn't take long for him to reach an Inn, the streets were littered with shabby last-attempt shops and small businesses. Ignoring the strange glances of the passbyers, he made his way into the inn and the stairs towards the rooms. The first door he could he kicked open, forcing the door to spin on its rusty hinges and slam into the wall.

"Hey!" so the room happened to be occupied at the moment, "Get out of my room you freak!"

No matter.

Kisame swung his sword toward the gentleman's body, successfully shredding him and leaving his pieces to adulterate the already dirty floor red. He didn't mind the smell of death, and Itachi can't complain.

Kisame dumped his unmoving body lazily on a bed.

"Just wake up soon," Kisame snarled.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Sure enough, the tree was dead, bur Itachi didn't mind dead things. Besides, it was the only other object in the field that was not flowers or grass.

"You see? It's dead," Little Sakura told him matter-o-factly, "Nobody likes looking at a dead tree."

"Better than looking at nothing."

The strange thing about being near the tree was the wind that blew around it. Everywhere else in the field was a painfully dead-still, here the wind didn't let anything stay stationary. The wind didn't feel better than the still though. It was sharp enough to make his hair slap irritatingly around his pale face, but it didn't have a cool or refreshing feeling. He noticed large red ribbon tied around the trunk of the tree; hadn't the child said something about giving back a ribbon?

Not like he cared for a child's physiological needs.

Little Sakura looked at him with curious green eyes while he went to lean his back on the rotting bark of the tree.

How long had he been walking towards the tree? Days? Time was hard to tell since everything was always the same, no sun to set or moon to rise.

He settled down uncomfortably with his back leaning on the tree, closing his eyes. He wondered if he would be able to sleep when he was already in a dream-like state.

He heard Sakura walk softly towards him and kneeled at his feet, and he feel her eyes stare at him. If one thing he had to admit, it was that her eyes were unusually piercing for a child. He was use to stares and generally could shake them off, but now it was bothering him, it was as if they could bore their way strait through his head and see anything that was inside.

This place was breaking down his mask.

"What are you looking at me?" he asked, eyes still closed.

"Because it's better than looking at a dead tree."

"..."

"Do you like being alone?" she asked him.

"More than being with people."

"Just like... Sasuke."

At the mention of his brother's name Itachi opened an eye, "Oh? He's alone a lot."

"Yeah. He likes to train."

Something about that satisfied him, his little avenger was growing up the way he planned.

"I really like Sasuke, you know."

He didn't care about the crushing of a child.

"You want to know why?"

"Why do you feel the need to tell me everything?"

Little Sakura blinked and then seemed to ponder the question, "Well, usually I don't like too but it's like I have too here."

It made sense, if this place was her mind, then her thoughts roamed freely. If she were to think of something, then she would say it.

Little Sakura began her story,

"At first I didn't have a lot of friends, actually I didn't have any. Then I met Ino, and she had other friends, and they were nice to me but..." she clasped the part of her shirt that was right above her heart, "I was still feeling lonely. Like there was something missing, I still felt lonely. That's when I saw him, Sasuke. People liked him, and he was strong, and he was cute, and they wanted to be around him, but he didn't want to with them."

Both Itachi's eyes were opened, curious.

"He was always by himself. And one day he was swinging by himself and I walked up to ask him if he felt lonely. He didn't answer first, so I asked again. And he told me... no. That's when I wanted to be like him. He didn't feel this pain, even when he was by himself. So if he started to like me, then maybe I can learn to be like him, and I don't feel so lonely anymore. I didn't think it would matter if the world turned their back on me, as long as he acknowledged me, I'll be happy."

It made little to no sense to Itachi; drawing strength from other people was nothing he ever considered.

"That was at first, now I like him for a whole bunch of reason and it's kind of scary."

"Why?"

"Because I'll always like him a lot- maybe too much. And I'll always be missing something. I found out the real reason I'm lonely, and it's something no one can take away from me. My name... it gives me this sadness. My name is the Kuroko curse."

"Just because of a name."

"I told you it was important."

"..."

"The Uchiha's have a curse too..." he didn't want to speak, but he realized that his thoughts were also roaming around freely. He had kept such a strong hold on them for so long, he didn't know how to react to his own words now.

"You do?"

"It's called the sharingan."

There was a long pause before Sakura chose to speak.

"But... it makes you so strong, it makes you _better_."

"Yes, I guess it does make me better," Itachi stared off in the distance, "It gave me so much power."

" Why is it a curse? Sasuke likes it a lot."

"Of course he likes it, he wasn't able until he was older."

"It's only bad when you are younger?"

Itachi struggled with himself; he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"When you're younger, you have almost no control over yourself. I was able to use the sharingan when I was eight, but I felt the effects of them much sooner."

"effects?"

"Sharingan is closely linked with your mind. My father... wanted me to become the best and from an early age he taught me how to use it. I don't think anyone ever tried the use of such a bloodline at a young age, so no one knew what would happen?"

"What happened?"

"I don't really know. It just... happened."

The little Sakura tilted her head, as if the angle gave her a better view of his soul. Her eyes were filled with a pity that he never seen in anyone's eyes before. He didn't know if he liked it, he didn't know if he hated it.

It was hard to see her face though her bangs that littered all around her face so he couldn't read her. The wind didn't really help matters either and her hair blew wildly around.

"The winds harsher out there."

"I hate this tree, I rather be in the wind."

"Hn."

"Aren't you going to tell me what it did to you?"

"No."

"Oh... ok."

It was strange. He never liked conversing, about himself or anything else. He liked action and liked power, but here there would be none of that. He had a feeling that he would be here for awhile, he's already been here, how long?

Days? Weeks?

He would have gone crazy, assuming there was some sanity left in him already.

"How long do you think I'll be here?" he asked.

"Long? I don't know. I've been here all my existence, but that's because I want to stay."

Here gave her a dull look, "Want to stay here?"

Sakura flushed, "Because... it's better than being," her voice dropped to a whisper like she was scared that someone would hear her, "out there."

Itachi paused, not really knowing what to say.

"You can't hide from it forever," he finally said, surprised at the encouragement what came out of his mouth.

"I'm doing a pretty good job of it now."

To that he really could say nothing.

"Everybody lives so busy, they don't need me anyway. I just get in the way."

Itachi had no real opinion on the outside. He didn't care about the people or the places that he been. Here, there was no where to go, and only one person to meet.

And...he was relaxed.

Itachi was never relaxed. He was always wandering or fighting or killing or training or thinking. Now, he couldn't do anything but rest under the dead cherry blossom tree with a child at his feet asking him questions.

Life was strange.

x-x-x-x-x

Tsunade sighed heavily, shifting through the mountains of papers that threatened to topple over and drown her. She needed sleep, maybe a drink, and something to gamble with. All she got was more paperwork.

She considered getting the two jounins to do the work for her, but they too where out for the Itachi manhunt. Damn her luck.

"S class mission," she murmured as her eyes flipped through the contents. It was a good mission, nice pay, the death probability wasn't _too_ high. But she didn't like how time consuming it was though, she needed her shinobi to do as many missions as possible. She put the file in her "maybe check it out later" pile.

All this reading was making her disorientated, and she took a moment to rub her eyes with her hands, when she heard familiar sounding poof.

"Yo."

Kakashi never had any real manners. Then again, it was better than hearing Hokage-sama every time someone addressed her.

"Hello, I trust you heard the news."

"Naruto and Sasuke told me, that's why I'm here."

"That and to fill out your report."

He shrugged, "Sure."

"Well."

"It was a success."

"Good, because I have another mission for you after you get an hour's rest."

"First Sakura."

"Ah yes," Kakashi always had a one track mind, "She's fine and in no real danger, it's like sleeping."

"Itachi?"

"From what I can tell, he's probably in the same state."

"How long is she going to be like this?"

"Who knows. The longest she can hold onto him is a couple of days, maybe a week, but that's at best."

Kakashi looked thoughtful, "What does Itachi do in her mind?"

"Anything she wants him too. He must be going crazy about now, he's been there for so long."

Despite his mask, she could visibly see him frown, "I thought it has only been a few hours."

"You should know better than anyone how fast the mind works Kakashi. Information and ideas travel much faster in the mind than what we can do in a conscious state. A few seconds could seem like days in the mind. Figuratively speaking, they've been trapped in her mind for months in their perspective."

"So, how will Itachi react to being her mind for 'years'..."

"Hopefully, we'll find the bastard before then. Now go get some rest before your next mission."

"... Has anyone told the mother."

Tsunade cursed, things have been moving so quickly it slipped her mind. Her mother probably just figured that she still was out on missions. With the village in this state, it wasn't rare for genins to not come home for days. They would just eat and rest in the hospital for awhile, then leave for the next mission.

"Could you do it for me? You are their sensei after all."

She could tell the silver haired jounin was hesitant.

"It's not that bad. Just tell her that she's unconscious but she'll be up in a few days in perfect health, nothing more."

"Yeah..."

Another poof and he was gone. Kakashi didn't have manners but he had an undeniable style.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

[AN] It's really hard not to make the conversation awkward, I'm trying to avoid a scenario that makes it seem like Itachi's reclining in a bed and a child Sakura hovering over him asking "So, what was the relationship with your parents?"

So, it's a bit confusing with the time, but I figured if three days in that crazy world of Itachi's is a couple of seconds, then why can't it be like that in Sakura's mind? I mean, the mind really does work at an incredible rate, and in the mind people are not limited by their physical bodies, it only makes sense that a few hours makes it seems like a few months.

I had to write Kakashi in somehow. My only regret is that I can't Shikimaru in it. Shikimaru= coolness with the blazing glory of the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. But, he would do nothing more for my story, and I find it shameful on my part that I _haven't_ written in Ino yet.

Effect and affect are hard for me to differentiate.

Glarg. I have to hunt down and pester good Naruto Sakura-centric writers to see if I could put some of their fanfictions on my Saukra site. What? I haven't shamelessly, almost pitifully, plugged my Haruno Sakura site yet? -abashed- . Go, I assure you that I'm a better site maker than an authoress.

**Girl-chama**: No problem, you really are a brilliant writer. Sakura might be praised, but then again shinobi are always doing something at risk for the betterment of the village, good deeds are often lost in a time of struggle. So far, not many know of Itachi's presence.

**animEvivvErz**With Kisame, it will still be hard to find Itachi. So, better safe than sorry most people say. Thank you.

**aik0h**I'm glad you like it!

AnimeOtaku313 : Thank you, hopefully the next update will come soon.

**rogue solus**Inner Sakura does rock hard. I'm glad to see that I'm creating a somber mood, I was worried that it was a bit stale.

**Youkai Ryuu**There is little connection between the body and mind, she could release his soul without knowing his body was dead, and then his soul would just dwindle. Besides it is difficult keeping someone else's independent mind in their mind, Itachi couldn't do it for more than a couple of seconds. Thank you!

**Maya Amano**Inner Sakura will be making a reappearance sometime in the near chapters too come so don't worry! The review by nunya was deleted because it was bit too rude for PG-13, but you weren't missing much. Thank you for reading.

**Yukina**:I'm glad you like it and decided to review. While I'll be deepening the ItachixSakura relationship, I'm not sure it will quite go into romantic. Or perhaps it already is, depending how you decide to interpert their interaction. But they'll definitely be getting closer.

**L0vEnEkO**: I'm glad you like it so much! I like the little Sakura too, she's just so timid it's sweet. For some reason I see a lot of Hinata in what Little Sakura once was.


	5. IV: All for One

**In a name**

Silent Shadow

III: All for one

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Does it hurt when you use your eyes like that..."

"Not anymore."

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Out of respect, Kakashi knocked on the door of the Haruno house. Not to call him anti-social, but he didn't visit other residents very often unless he knew them well enough to barge in without asking.

At first he didn't hear anything, but then he heard muffled footsteps and the door creaked open.

"Ah, Kakashi-san," the woman, Mrs. Haruno, said as she stepped out the door so she could close it behind her, lest the bugs came in.

He had seen her occasionally, it was hard not see the startling pink hair, but not very often. Just on occasions where it deemed necessary for the parents to come out or be labeled cold. She was whipping her hands on her apron and her eyes didn't necessarily come in contact with his one eye.

"How is Sakura?" she asked, "This visit is about her, is it not?"

"Yes. She's unconscious, but she will be fine."

"I know."

"Oh?"

"Mother's intuition," she said blatantly, almost challengingly.

"Interesting. Don't teach that at the academy."

Challenge accepted.

"Kakashi-san," she said sternly, "I know your doubts of me, but let me assure you that no matter what the situation is between Sakura and I- I am her mother and she is my daughter."

"Aa, but she is my soldier first."

He expected the older woman to loose her cool, but instead she pondered the retort and then she smiled.

"You know, Sakura said something like that once before."

"Hn." He felt a surge of pride from the weakest member of his team. She never had as much potential as Sasuke and Naruto, but she had another strength that could be greatly respected.

"At first, I thought this kunoichi business was ridiculous, but maybe a cure."

A cure for what, he didn't know. Nor did he really care.

"Do you want to see Sakura?"

Her mother shook her head, "No, I don't think she would care to see me too much. Besides... she'll find her own way from wherever she is. Now if you excuse me, dinner must be made before my husband comes."

Part of a family routine. Perhaps there was a little more family in that routine than Kakashi had originally suspected.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Itachi didn't really know how long he had been here, it was hard to estimate but he felt that he had been there for close to a year. An entire year wasted sitting underneath the cherry blossom tree, discussing topics with a depressed timid child.

Somewhere, somehow, during the long periods between talking and silence- he broke. Control over himself no longer mattered anymore, he was stuck in a fantasy land for what seemed to be the rest of his life, it didn't matter if he didn't want people to know him.

"You are very talented to be able to use your sharingan since you were eight."

"I hated it."

"Then why do you use it so much?"

"I don't hate it now."  
"Oh."

Another typical long silence. They could go on in perfect muteness for days, and then start a conversation that could go on for weeks.

"I had tried to use it before," he told her, "but I couldn't really utilize it to my advantage until I was eight."

"Oh, so you could to use it for a bit when you were even younger?"

"My dad wanted me to become the strongest member of the Uchiha clan before being his son. He trained me to fight before I could walk."

"It must have been hard."

"No, I don't mind being strong. I like it."

"Oh. Why did you hate the sharingan?"

"When you are really young, it's hard to control, and it backfires on you."

"Like how?"

Tact was lost to the curious, but being in this world for so long, one gets use to it.

"It eats away at you. Sometimes you slip in a coma, or you see things that aren't there. Once in awhile I blank out and I wake up somewhere else, but I don't really know what I did to get there."

Sakura reacted the way he knew she would, he had known her for a long time.

"But, Sasuke-kun never did things like that..."

"Sasuke didn't use his sharingan until he was twelve. There's a difference in mental control."

"Oh..."

"When I started to be able to use the sharingan well, those episodes stopped. But after that it was hard to move on my actions. I would feel furious- like I wanted to rip something apart, but all I would do is just stand there with a blank look on my face. There was a disconnection between myself and my body."

"The sharingan sounds horrible," Sakura said, holding herself tightly.

"I didn't care too much, as long as I got stronger. Besides after I learned about the mangekyou sharingan I knew I would be ok."

"The strange sharinagan?"

"Total control, indescribable power. A cure all for all my ails."

"What's so special about power?"

A look flickered in his eyes that reflected insanity, "It's all I need."

"I think," she began but faltered.

"You think what?"

She buried her head in shame- surprised she could say this, "That the effects of the sharingan when you were younger wasn't temporary."

Itachi wasn't offended by what she said, he's been called worse, but still the way she said it made him feel as if what he did wasn't correct.

It didn't matter what she thought anyway.

"How do you get... that sharingan?"

"It's sort of the same way you get the normal one, something incredibly intense has to happen."

"...Like massacring your family. Or even killing your best friend."

"Exactly. I didn't have friends really, so I had to destroy my clan, it took forever for me to be able to receive the power since I wasn't too close with my relatives, I had to slaughter all of them."

"Ah," Sakura paused as if the next question was difficult for her, "Why did you let Sasuke-kun live?"

"I didn't need to kill him, I already gained what I wanted by then."

Sakura was not satisfied, "Why do you want him to be stronger?"

Itachi chose not to answer and they sat in silence again. The wind whipped their hair, the dead cherry blossom tree, the white speckled field, the mute land that not even breathing made a sound. Not that breathing was necessary.

"_God damn, you guys are so boring!"_ a loud, somewhat obnoxious voice boomed over the field. A new person had appeared beside them- he knew he had seen her before. She was the one that had gone to the long rage and dragged his mind to hers. He considered trying to kill to see what would happen, but he didn't think he would do much good trying.

Unlike little Sakura, she was thirteen which made her seem that she was his age. She had her eyes in an aggressive slant and words etched in her large forehead. The strangest part about her was that she seemed to be colored invertly of the little Sakura, her total opposite. This Sakura had not taken to sitting like the other too, instead she stood in a haughty position with her hands impatiently on her hips.

She looked at the younger version of herself, "_I see that this place hasn't changed much, still as crappy as ever. Except for this tree it's new? Eh, It dead?!? Not much of an improvement._"

Inner Sakura snorted and kicked the tree with her foot, which rattled under her feet. Itachi, who was still leaning on the dead tree, glared at the rude girl as she stomped around with a grace of a rampaging elephant. Interestingly enough, the grass and flowers she trampled on staid crushed instead of popping up with its usual vigor.

"_Oh, it's crazy bastard!_" she said waving her finger at him before facing little Sakura again, "_I thought you might at least have broken a rib. Give him the old one two!"_

She punched the air to give the little Sakura a demonstration of what she meant.

"I... uh," little Sakuraflushed at the suggestion.

"_Arg! You can be so annoying!"_ Inner Sakura raged, "_Don't tell me you just sat here with crazy bastard and talked!"_

He didn't mind the stupid nickname she gave him as much as he didn't like her loud voice and the way she swung her fist hazardly in the air, not caring if it did or did not connect with anything. But it was also a relief to hear something and see something besides what he had been staring at for who knows how long.

"_What's the deal with tree anyway?"_ Inner Sakura frowned circling it like a shark, "_What the hell? Is that a ribbon around it? Why is there a ribbon around it?"_

She shot little Sakura an accusing glare, "_You're still worked about that stupid thing?"_

Little Sakura managed to squeak, "I really liked it. It helped me see better, it showed that Ino cared for us."

_"No, it showed Ino's no longer existent superiority. It was a reminder of our weakness. We don't need anybody's help!"_

"But my forehead..." little Sakura faced Itachi and put her hand up to her bangs, "Don't you think my forehead looks big like this?"

Forehead?

"What?"

"My forehead... isn't it ugly?"

"I don't see anything wrong with it," he said confused. The woes of a female were lost to him.

"_Exactly what the crazy bastard said! We're normal!"_

Well... maybe not so much normal.

"_Hey crazy bastard!_"she called, bored of berating little Sakura, "_Why do you hate Sasuke-kun so much?"_

He didn't say anything but the silent reply had no effect on Inner Sakura like it did the younger one, "_Hey! You deaf or something? I'm talking to you!"_

Itachi sighed and faced away.

"_You rude son of a-"_

"He doesn't have to talk," little Sakura said, fully aware of what it feels like to opt for silence.

"_LIKE HELL HE DOESN'T!"_ She screamed and went to grab Itachi by his clothes, "_Did you forget where you were? This is my place!"_

"I don't hate him."

Satisfied that he was talking she let go of his clothes.

"If you don't hate them," little Sakura started, "then... why do you push him to torture himself."

"For his strength."

"_I see it's all for his good, your are so charitable,"_ Inner Sakura snorted, "_Why the hell would you care how strong he is?"_

"Sasuke is very close to me in genetic material you know. Even more so than normal brothers. But unlike me, Sasuke was never pushed as hard and his treatment was always reflected more of a son than a soldier."

"_Bohoo. ' My daddy was mean and that's why I kill' doesn't fly for me."_

"I don't seek your acceptance nor expect you to understand."

"_Whatever crazy bastard."_

"Does it make you angry? The way he was raised?" little Sakura asked.

Angry? No. It wasn't anger, he had no reason to be angry, he came out stronger.

"I think... I'm more curious."

Nature vrs. Nurture. Too see if he could break Sasuke to be like him. He wasn't sure what he curious of, maybe everything. Sasuke was the big "what if..." in his life.

"_Well that's nice, you use him as a way to answer life questions. You are a crazy bastard."_

He was almost going to miss the long periods of silence.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

More paperwork? Every time Tsunade seemed to work towards the end of the knee deep papers and mountains of scrolls, more suddenly appeared. All her mighty sennin powers couldn't demolish all this work. She entertained the idea of using a simple " Ryuuka no Jutsu" to burn all the papers to a crisp, but it was nothing more than a mere fantasy. So she sighed and unraveled one mission scroll, asking for someone to help his wife cook dinner for one night. Tsunade snorted when she saw the payment and tossed it into her "I think not" pile.

"Ah, Hokage-sama," an old withering voice called out to her.

"Hn?" Tsunade couldn't see passed the piles of paper, "Who is it? Never mind that, go away. I'm busy."

"Not too busy for the welfare of your village I dare ask?"

"Oh- elder. Welcome," Tsunade greeted dully.

"I have caught wind of some strange rumors regarding a young genin girl."

"Really? That's nice."

"I assume you know about what I'm talking about."

"If you assume that I know, I have to assume which girl you assume that a rumor is truth."

The elder scowled, her wrinkled deepening.

"I want to see Haruno Sakura."

"Ah, that girl. Why didn't you just say so? Assuming makes an ass out of you and me."

"If she has Itachi's mind in her then, more than likely, if she dies so does he."

"That's a strong assumption."

"But not without basis."

As a kunoichi, she was taught never to show her emotion, and true to her training she fought down a flinch at those words. Though the elder was too old to use chakra properly, she was a good kunoichi during her time, after all- she was a teammate of the legendary third hokage. The elder wasn't strong but she was smart.

"The title of Hokage is not a privilege, it's a responsibility to take care of everyone in this village. The weight of a child doesn't out weigh the number of children at risk."

"I _know_... As Hokage..."

There was a dramatic pause.  
"She isn't in the hospital, she's in the next room," she informed her with a heavy sigh.

"You did the right thing."

Tsunade said nothing, she couldn't read the scrolls anymore because the words blurred. She heard the footsteps of the elder as it passed her table. She didn't like the uneven rhythm of the old woman's footsteps as it slowly neared the door to the next room. Tsunade tried furiously to read the writing but nothing could make sense. There was drawn out creak of the door as it swung on its hinges.

_"As Hokage..."_

"What is this?!" the elder gasped.

"_I will do what is right for my people._"

"What is what?" Tsunade feigned innocence.

"There is no girl here!"

"_Leave no one behind."_

"Really? I left her there, I didn't take her out," Tsunade saying not getting up from her desk.

She didn't smile, a kunoichi never shows her emotions.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know," Tsunade said honestly, "Maybe someone took her away."

"Than we better find her."

"Yes, _you_ better."

"Then I request shinobi's to search the village."

"I'm sorry. As Hokage I need to look out the best interest of the village and all my men are either busy or resting. You are on your own."

The elder huffed.

"I see, then I will do so," and with that she stomped out of the door loudly.

Tsunade was satisfied, she wasn't angry with the elder since she couldn't blame her the for wanting to save the village. As head of the village, Tsunade knew full well that she could not do anything to protect Sakura.

But she knew that Sasuke had told the other teammates about what could happen to Sakura and when at her office, she heard the familiar curses of Naruto as he secretly snuck in the other room to get Sakura.

Hokage was a tricky title.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

[AN]

First things first: my Sakura shrine. For some reason beyond my comprehension... URLs do not work on so you will have to bear with me and close all the gaps in the address " http:wilted. splintering. net"

Truthfully, I didn't really know what I was going to do when I made Sasuke as the question to Tsunade. I was probably going to leave it in the open and let it sort of die. I found this better and much more fun to do, and I like how it flew.

And I wasn't even going to make Inner Sakura reappear, but I fell in love with writing her that I had to put her in. Now I can't imagine the story without her.

So the deal with Itachi, well I got this idea shortly after watching Law and Order SVU (which I love with all my heart but it really messes with you). So there was an episode where this serial killer was going around, well, killing people. It turns out that he had some sort of disease that messed with his mind and he believed he was taking orders from God. So I began to think...

With the sharingan, you see an opponent make his move, and then at the very same time you can mimic and analyze the jutsu, that has got to put a lot of pressure, not just on chakra, but on the brain as well. Not to mention- Itachi was _eight_. How the hell is that going to effect the kid? It doesn't sound so healthy to me. So that's why I believe Itachi is a mass murderer.

Need to lay of SVU...

I didn't expect to be out with this chapter so fast, heh. I might get this fic finished quicker than I first thought.

Ugh, rereading the new chapters I realize that if I don't want this to be an AU, I will have to go back and rewrite Kakashi so that he knows what happened to Sasuke before he came back.

**L0vEnEkO**: A bit excited aren't we? I hope to update more often, as long as it doesn't mess up my sceduel. I'm glad you like it.

**Youkai Ryuu**: It's called Tsukuyomi (Mind Reader)- keeps them in the world for seventy two hours but in reality- just a few seconds, or one second, or something of the sort. It's a pretty friggin cool move if you ask me. XD. I'm delighted that you enjoyed it.

**soul-of-ice **: Thanks for reminding me. Hopefully the URL will show up now. I'm happy that you found it interesting!

Kawaii Yoshi: Thank you! I always try to think of new ideas but it doesn't work out to well, it's hard to find something original with so many wonderful works out there. And thankyou for your offer, I appreciate muchly.

**quijote3000**: Thank you!

**animEvivvErz**: I hope to, thanks.

**Maya Amano** Little Sakura is cute neh? For some reason Itachi feels right writing with children, he seemed like a good guy when Sasuke was a kid, before he snapped.

**rogue solus**I'm glad you like it.

**Yukina:** Hopefully not, or else my story would be toilet paper for Itachi is much fun to write.

**Silent nox**: Wow, thanks! I don't hink I'm that good, but I really do appreciate what you said.

Shiroi Hikari: Thank you.


	6. V: Smile for Me

**In a Name**

Silent Shadow

V: Smile for Me

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

It was a late night in Konoha village, relatively pretty too. The lights of the houses did not dim the magnificence of the night sky. The speckled stars melted spots of the black into a light blue and glistened impressively to show their dominance; nights were not always remarkable like this and definitely not something to miss.

But if you were Uchiha Sasuke, you really don't give two craps about the night sky and would rather be inside sleeping or in the forest training at a time like this. In fact, Sasuke was sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor of the massive Uchiha estate, debating whether or not he wanted to start training at this hour. Children at age thirteen were given strict curfews, especially since after the Chuunin War. Not to mention that he did not think that the shinobi's that were so closely watching him would want to him to leave the house at a late hour by himself, heading towards a dense forest that would potentially provide good escape.

Training in the night, though, was very advantageous and a good simulation for real battles. The inability to see would help hone his other senses, which would be exceptionally good if the enemy was using any type of genjutsu that he couldn't dispel with a "Kai" jutsu. He was always more tired around this time which would be good because an enemy often engaged in battle when he was weary. Taking such an opportunity was really what Uchiha wanted to do, and he didn't care if shinobi's would watch over him as he trained.

Yes, this is what Sasuke does on a Friday night.

The abrupt knocking on his door interrupted him in mid-thought, and Sasuke was tempted to ignore the rude sound. He hated visitors, mostly due to the fact that a lot of them were female academy classmates who fancied themselves as his next suitors. He tried his best to end such ridiculous thoughts with a scowl and a slam of the door, but it never quite worked. Even if they did stop coming over, more would come to take their placed. He didn't think there was that many kids his age in the entire Fire Country.

The knocking persisted, and Uchiha sighed and got up from brooding pose #2. The authorities did not like it when he didn't respond to their calls. He didn't quite know when he transitioned from being the respected and last member of the highly exalted Uchiha clan, to some public enemy that needed constant surveillance. Sasuke's hand absentmindedly brushed his neck where the curse seal laid.

Oh wait- never mind. He did.

The knocking became more impatience and Sasuke let a growl seep through his perfect teeth. He didn't understand why people knocked like he was obligated to answer to them with prim swiftness, and if he didn't then it was his fault. He in fact didn't just hate visitors, he was annoyed with the general population of the Fire Country.

Sasuke opened the door to his house without checking whom the annoying intruder was. There was a time before were he always paranoid about who was on the other side of the door- and always double checked who it was, but now he didn't bother. The strategically placed guards around his house would never let anyone suspicious in the house.

"Elder?" he blinked in surprise. The old woman nodded in a solemn greeting.

"Ah, Uchiha Sasuke. I'm sorry to be an inconvenience but I'm going to have the shinobi guards search your house," she said in her creaky voice as the two guards that usually hid themselves around his house appeared.

"I'm sure you are," he said thickly, he knew that they would be searching for Sakura.

He didn't like the fact that they were so adamant to find her sleeping body, even more so that they now tracked around the rooms of his mother and father, desecrating what he considered to be their graves.

"It will only take a few minutes," she said, "Shorter if they find the girl Sakura."

Sasuke forced his face to remain neutral, which wasn't hard since he was use to it, "Sakura is missing?"

The elder didn't bother with an unbelieving look.

"What's this?" a third voice cut in from outside, "It seems every time I come back from a mission, there's always troublesome news to greet me."

Kakashi, tucking his little book into safety, added a laid back element to the tense atmosphere. He could be impressive he really wanted to be, but usually he just gave the impression of a lazy jounin.

"We are searching for your student Kakashi," said the elder, "Haruno Sakura apparently is missing."

"Hm, that is worrisome news," he said disinterestedly.

"Elder," the two ninjas reappeared, "There is nothing here."

"I see," she turned to Kakashi, "Well I guess I'll be searching your quarters next."

"I'm sorry elder," said one of the shinobi's, "but we cannot leave our post. The only reason why we could check his house is because he is to be under our surveillance."

"I see. Then I guess I'll have to check alone."

Kakashi faced her, his visible eye drooped tiredly, "I'm sorry but I cant let you do that."

Elder frowned, "And why is that?"

"Shinobis aren't aloud to search another resident's house unless they have sufficient evidence that I'm engaging in something outside the law. I'm guessing you aren't going on anything but a hunch," judging from the look on Elder's face he was correct. Kakashi continued, "I'm not like Sasuke, I'm not on probation so you can't enter my apartment. In fact, the only way you could is if martial law was declared over Konoha, but that's beyond even your powers, isn't it? I guess you'll just have to ask the hokage... if she lets you."

"There are other ways to search your premises."

"You mean like using a Hyuuga? You may try but I doubt you'll get very far. You see Sakura is very close to Naruto. And Hyuuga Hinata happens to be a very special friend of Naruto, and you remember Hinata-sama is to be the head of her clan. If she orders her family not to use it, then you can do nothing. Special privilege given to bloodline clans."

The elder sighed, "It seems you have all the ends carefully planned. How clever."

"I don't know what you're talking about, me planned?"

The elder just shook her head, "I hope you know what you are doing." And she slowly walked away with her head down.

Kakashi and Sasuke's eyes met, and from the crinkle around Kakashi's eyes Sasuke knew he was smiling under that mask at him. The smile, he supposed, was a way to comfort him and after Kakashi knew that his message was conveyed, Kakashi disappeared.

Sasuke couldn't hide his smirk. As much as it annoyed him, they were all a team. Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi operated perfectly together; team seven would not be beaten. Sakura is safe.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

He could swear that it was probably nearing mid of the second year by now, the conversations flew by quickly. From favorite colors, to happy childhood memories, to the death of beloved pets. Most of the talking was between Inner Sakura and little Sakura, but occasionally Itachi said something. Usually it was short and to the point, and they were very rare, but it strongly affected the conversation for awhile. There were no more periods of awkward silence, Inner Sakura had made sure that would not happen with her long-winded rants that more often than not ended with her yelling and throwing her fists in the air.

Itachi was no longer bothered by the stillness of the nonsensical painted world, or the dead tree he was under. Not even the blank sky or the endless white flowers. What really worried him was how much he talked about himself. Moments of weakness had allowed his memories pour out of him mouth easily. It was simple to think here, to talk about things that were never to be spoken, to feel things that weren't suppose to be felt.

It scared him, but it was addicting. He was trapped in this insubstantial world created by a normal child with a slight mental problem, but he never felt so free.

Inner Sakura really didn't care to study the inner workings of the 'crazy bastard' Itachi, she only cared that he would listen to what she said. Little Sakura, however, was very interested in watching how Itachi was changing. She didn't know much, but she could swear that it something that was happening. Whatever the sharingan did to his mind, it's effect was lessening. She could almost see that this world was slowly, but surely, healing him.

And maybe... he wasn't the only one changing.

"_Hey Crazy Bastard_!" Inner Sakura bellowed after a particularly long discussion of how shy little Sakura was, "_You were a popular kid weren't you?"_

_"_Popular?"

"_Yeah, I had bet you had tons of girls falling at your feet. I mean, before you were a crazy bastard."_

"Not that I remember," he said. Then again Itachi was always inattentive when it came to socializing, he never concentrated too much on people and if they liked him.

"Did you feel lonely?"

"I never felt the need for people."

"Everybody needs someone. If not love then acknowledge," little Sakura said sadly.

"_Hell yeah! A precious person!"_

"Precious person?"

"Somebody once said... that when they want to protect a precious person they become truly strong," little Sakura said.

Truly strong?

"_What the hell?"_ Inner Sakura cried out.

"?"

"_You!_" her finger waved dangerously close to little Sakura's face, "_You heard that! I thought you never left this place! That means you surface at times."_

"I usually don't, I hate it there."

"You miss a lot," Itachi said, "You want to see your friend Ino again? How can you do it when you're in here?"

Little Sakura seemed to stutter over her words.

"...I... kind... can't."

"_Dear Lord! Don't you ever hear yourself? What kind of attitude is that? You just bring everything down!"_ Inner Sakura shouted. Little Sakura cringed away in fear, waiting for the next wave of verbal assault.

"If you keep saying things like that," Itachi cut in, "You'll never succeed."

Tears brimmed at the edge of her sea-burst eyes, "You can't understand. I... just can't. I'm not like you Itachi."

Little Sakura collapsed, sobbing to herself, bringing her hands up to her face as a sort of physical representation of a mental barrier.

"I don't want to be weak, but I am."

"_That's bullshit."_

"It's so hard. I want to... I really really do."

She hiccuped loudly.

Itachi had seen the girl cry before, but not a breakdown of this magnitude. He stared at the fragile shake as her body racked with sobs. Inner Sakura seemed highly disturbed with the showing of intense negative emotion. Itachi had seen these sort of things before, mostly watching family members cry over his victims, this was the first time it affected him

"I don't think you're weak," he said finally, trying to ease her tears.

"_HUH?_" Even Inner Sakura was surprised. Little Sakura put her hands down from her face, her sobbing ceased but clear tears still trickled down her face.

Itachi tried not to be annoyed by her reaction.

"I believe that if you just tried you could get stronger."

Both faces revealed to absolute shock, their faces with etched in confusion. The familiar silence creeped in, and for the first time Itachi thought it dwelled too long.

Then Inner Sakura rolled her head back and started to roar in appreciative laughter that sounded more like an elephant's bellow, "_Who knew- he actually has a heart. You should listen to him Sakura, but don't follow all of his advice or you might become as crazy as he is._"

Inner Sakura's long hearty laughs turned into insane little giggles, and Itachi couldn't help but be slightly amused by her comical laugh. Even more extraordinary was that little Sakura had stopped wallowing in her own faults that she started to giggle too.

All three just sat there, under the dead tree that barely reached the empty sky in the infinite field, ignoring the harsh wind, smiling and laughing. And gradually a question arose in the back of their mind, wondering if they had finally snapped or maybe-

Just _maybe_.

They could be happy here.

"What's... that," Itachi said more to himself than anyone else benefit. Itachi's eyes had watched the fields so long that they sort of glazed over half-noticeably, and if he wasn't so observant he would have not noticed the slight change in the fields,

Inner Sakura looked at where Itachi looked, it was a pale yellow flower that barely conformed with the rest of the white in the grass. Wanting to further her inspection, she stood up strayed to the foreign flower before she faced little Sakura- her face splitting in a large smile that only Inner Sakura could produce.

"_It's a daffodil! It's a damned daffodil!"_she punched in the air in a certain victory, "_HELL YEAH! You're changing squirt, your world changing! No more fujmibaka or cosmos! It's _our_ flower. Not the pasts."_

Little Sakura gave Inner Sakura a weak smile on her pretty young face, feeling a surge of pride at the praise. Itachi watched slightly fascinated as he watched more daffodils grow from a tiny blade of green that twirled into mature blooms.

"_They're blooming- Rock on!"_ she turned to Itachi with a wild grin, "_You know, maybe she's not a hopeless case. Then again, she was always Sakura! We rock!_

She added as an after thought, "_ You just might not be too bad Itachi!" What the hell am I saying- you're Itachi. Oh well."_

For the first time, Inner Sakura's voice trailed off unsure, something more out of place than little Sakura's daffodil. But something that Itachi noticed with a greater sense of interest, was the lack of her old nickname for him. She called him Itachi instead of Crazy Bastard.

Where would this time lead them?

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Naruto hadn't been to Ichiraku's for some time now, instead he was solely living of his own five-minute ramens. He hadn't been going out that much either, and because so, he felt no need to make himself presentable. His blond hair laid wildly in random directions and settled unkemptly on his head.

There was a perfectly good explanation why this boy with incredible amounts of usually unnecessary energy confined himself to the dwelling of his shoddy apartment complex, a very good reason indeed.

Because hidden behind the piles of unwashed laundry and boxes full of hand-me-down trinkets the Third once had given him as child, laid his lifetime crush, Haruno Sakura. It wasn't hard for him not to stare at her, she looked very much alive and sleeping. He had laid some spare clean blankets on the floor and let her use his pillow, where her now tangled hair spread like a pink petal halo perfectly framing her face.

Naruto wanted to touch her, not as much as a pervert as much as a curious poke in the side to wake her up, but there would be consequence to that. Besides he was a lot more trust worthy than that, he wasn't like the Ero-senin. The thought of the perverted white-haired man helped firm his resolution not to give in his thirteen year old curiosities.

"Oi Sakura-chan," his voice rang, "I guess I got to feed you!"

Naruto knew that she wouldn't respond but he talked anyway, chattering non-sensibly. He carefully lifted Sakura in a sitting position, trying to pour a thick liquid past her mouth and down her throat without it dribbling down her chin. Satisfied with his work, he set her down carefully, this time on her stomach.

He wasn't sure why Kakashi-sensei had told him to keep Sakura here, but he guessed this way everyone could visit her. Kakashi could enter his apartment without getting caught, but Naruto- even with his great sneaking abilities that he gained from perfecting pranks- could not sneak passed the watchful eyes of truly talented jounin that patrolled nearby.

Then he had to ask Hinata to tell the Hyuugas not to use their blood limit to spy on him. _That_ was an interesting experience. When he told her that he needed to tell something to her in confidence, she replied eagerly and looked like she would jump into anything Naruto asked her to. When he told her that Sakura was in his house her face fell so fast that Naruto asked her if she was sick, to which she flushed. He then explained the situation and asked her to ask her clan to help them; the renewed thought of helping him made her turn a bright shade of red that contrasted strangely with her dark hair and pale skin.

Her reactions still confused him.

He looked at the unmoving face of his teammate, "What do you think of Hinata? She's weird but really nice, eh? Girls are so weird, right Sakura?"

Naruto took a loud slurp of his ramen, the liquid spraying about while he ate his noodles, and some landed on Sakura.

"Sorry Sakura," he quickly dried her off with a dirty shirt that he had discarded on the floor, "Ugh. I'm so _bored_. Wake up soon!"

He hadn't meant to shout it, but being captive in his house did not do good for his patience.

For a second he thought he saw her twitch.

x-x-x-x-x-x

"What?"

He saw both the Sakura's flinch as if someone had screamed in their ear, and then glance upwards.

"_ARG! He's so damn annoying! Doesn't he ever shut up?"_

Itachi continued to stare confused.

"He does talk a lot," little Sakura managed to put in her hands reaching her ears, though he had the sinking suspicion that it wouldn't help if someone was talking to her.

"_He just gets louder and louder everyday_."

Itachi frowned, slightly alarmed by this new news. For a split second, the world seemed to become out of focus, even more so than usual.

Not only that but there were times were he could swear he smelt a rancid odor that didn't seem in place with Sakura's mind.

"I wonder..."

"Wonder what Itachi-san?" Little Sakura asked, she had a new habit of adding the honorific after his name, much to Inner Sakura's disgust.

"I wonder how much time we have left."

"_Why are you talking like were going to die?_" snorted Inner Sakura.

"Not die... just wake up."

"Wake up?"

"No one dreams forever."

Even Inner Sakura was at a lost for words, and the three exchanged long meaningful glances, not quite comprehending the situation.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A/N This chapter seems kind of choppy but oh well. Nothing seems to be flowing as well as I hoped.

There's been a flood of ItachixSakura fics (well Itachixvarious). Which is fun but now I feel that this might not be as original as I thought.

I'm trying to make it so Itachi is going through character development but now it just seems OOC. I have to make transitions smoother.

Ah well. No matter. To writing!

Sorry but I'm not going to go through the review replies. Time crunch, college is whipping the floor with my butt. Ugh.


	7. VI: Reintroduction

**In a Name**

Silent Shadow

Chapter VI: Reintroduction

x-x-x-x-x-x

Naruto didn't sleep on his bed conventionally, he found it was his subconscious's personality to spread his body and extend his limbs in strange angles to cover the most space possible. He snore was thunderous too, but what do you expect from one of the noisiest shinobi's of Konoha.

A rude noise abruptly awoken him from his sweet dreams that consisted mostly of him in Hokage's office devouring bowl after bowl of free ramen. Naruto let out a low groan, trying to shield his cerulean eyes from the bright light that spilled over the cracks between his blinds.

"Naruto!"

He bolted up from bed in response to the call of his name.

"_What is Sasuke doing here,"_ he thought as he shifted his feet towards a part of the floor that wasn't covered with discarded trash.

"_Wait a second! Sasuke is here?"_

Naruto bolted towards the door and opened it up with a speed only Lee was known for to see Sasuke in a perfectly calm waiting stance.

"Idiot," he whispered fiercely in his ear, "You aren't suppose to visit Sakura, that makes it seem suspicious."

Sasuke couldn't help but wince at his morning breath.

"Couldn't help it," he grumbled- making sure no one could hear, "We've got a mission. And brush your teeth."

Naruto turned red and resisted the urge to wave his fist in his face. Instead he gave Sasuke an aggravated look and muttered, "Yeah whatever. You wait here, I don't want to give anyone a reason to search my apartment."

"Like anyone could finding in there."

Naruto slammed to door in his face, but he wasn't quite angry, the promise of a mission and actually _doing something_ helped rise his spirits. He got ready as quickly as he could, gulping down a quick breakfast, and then using a hairbrush in one hand with a toothbrush in the other.

He grabbed his orange suit and was halfway in the pants before he realized that he hadn't fed Sakura yet. He hopped towards her, trying to lift his pants all the way up his legs. It was a very good thing that Sakura was asleep or you she would be horrified at the site of Naruto half-dressed.

He didn't even try to neatly feed Sakura as he let the thick milk-shake like substance slide down her throat.

"Sorry Sakura-chan," he said, "But I gotta hurry!"

With that he simply dropped her and rushed out the door leaving Sakura alone, sleeping on the dirty rags of his apartment.

x-x-x-x-x-x

"Itachi? Are you all alone?" Little Sakura asked him in the middle of an Inner Sakura rant about how annoyed she was that Kakashi-sensei never tried to train her- or even find her a decent fill-in.

Inner Sakura felt a little put out, but instead of her usual furious verbal fighting words, she contented herself with an angry glare. Little Sakura, instead of cringing at it, ignored her.

All the things that were expected of them didn't play out anymore.

"I have Kisame."

"Oh, is he your friend?" she asked.

"_You got the worst taste in friends,"_ Inner Sakura snorted, obviously not relishing the memory of the shark-like man.

"He's not a friend. He's an ally."

"_I forgot, ickle-Itachi doesn't have friends."_

Itachi ignored her, but there was a rebellious part of him (that didn't seem existent until he got into this damnable world) that silently agreed.

"Do you have a precious person?" she asked.

The precious person nonsense again.

"I don't want one," he corrected himself, "I don't need one."

"I have a precious person," little Sakura said smiling, "Many of them. Naruto, Ino, (Inner Sakura snorted), and Kakashi-sensei. But the most important one is Sasuke."

"Allies are good enough for me."

"_Spoken like you think the out of reach grapes are sour_."

He didn't think that the philosophy of his life could parallel to an old child's folktale. Then again, did he even have a philosophy in life?

"There's a difference," little Sakura said trying to change the subject, "between like and love. I guess that's sort of like an ally versus a precious person."

"Oh?"

"When I liked Sasuke, I use to dream where he would hug me, and he would say I was pretty and I would be happy. But when I loved him, I wanted _him _to smile, I wanted _him_ to be happy, and everything. My dreams just got flip-flopped."

"Sounds unnecessary."

"You can't help it when it happens."

"Sounds annoying."

"_Love is never annoying!"_ Inner Sakura said pumped up.

"If you want, you can be another one of my precious persons," little Sakura said.

"_What the hell?!"_

Little Sakura looked at Inner Sakura, "You were thinking the same thing."

"_Like hell I was!"_

"I'm still you..." little Sakura looked at Itachi, "If you're one of my precious people, maybe you won't be so lonely."

"Do as you wish," he said deadpan.

Little Sakura gave him a wide smile, something brave for her. He regarded her for a second and then noticed she slipped out of focus. The hazy world world didn't seem to become as bright and the cosmos in the distance color's slightly faded.

"_Yo Itachi!"_ Inner Sakura shouted, but even her loud voice seemed muffled as if someone was smothering her mouth with a pillow.

The familiar smell of rotting flesh came back, and he felt he was lying down...

"_Yo Itachi! Snap out of it!"_

Itachi took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and opened them again. The world refocused, the colors came back, the smell dispersed, and the Sakuras' voices came back.

"It happened again?" little Sakura asked.

"..."

"You slipping out of the world is happening more and more."

Inner Sakura sighed, "_It's a bitch to keep him in here like this. I feel tired."_

"I... don't want you to leave," little green orbs stared at Itachi desperately as she latched her small hands around his arm.

"_Stop acting like a wuss,"_ Inner Sakura demanded.

"I'm not," she defended herself, "But I don't like losing people."

"_Whatever._"

So there they where, Itachi leaning against the dead cherry-blossom tree. Little Sakura kneeling by his feet. Inner Sakura standing by her side. They've been in that pose what seemed to be like years, it was strange to think that it would be any other way.

"You know what, we've said a lot," little Sakura said suddenly, "I think out of everyone- you know me best now. I think I know you the best too."

Itachi didn't confirm or deny her beliefs.

"If you leave, I would want to see you again."

"_If you want to see him you'll have to leave this place,_" Inner Sakura snorted.

"... I know."

"Eh?" Inner Sakura was so surprised that she practically fell on her face.

"I think I could surface... from out of here now."

In shock, Inner Sakura could only blink at her and then turn her stare to Itachi. Itachi ignored her, but something felt warm now, he was so concentrated on the feeling that he barely had time to register that the tree he was leaning on was stirring. He backed away and stared at it.

At first, it was barely noticeable, but if one concentrated their gaze at its base, it was obvious that the color was changing. The rotten bark slowly rejuvenated, and the progress made it's way gracefully upward, from the base to the trunk... from the trunk to the branches, and then it began to sprout little green buds that covered the tree limbs. The top of the tree was filled with green when it seemed to burst and in explosion of color, there were pink cherry blossoms. The coloy came so violently, crashing against the monochrome sky and mundane field, that Itachi actually reverted his eyes for a bit.

"The tree..." little Sakura looked at Inner Sakura in confusion.

"_What's going on?!"_ Inner Sakura cried out in surprise.

A smile tugged on Itachi's face, it felt weird and very foreign. And it was so small it was barely noticeable. But it came none of the less.

"The tree blossomed."

"How..."

"Even after they wilt... they will always return next spring."

"Itachi-san..." her voice began to waver. Because now even the Sakuras' could see that Itachi was slowly fading out of this world.

"..," He didn't reply as usual but he did stare at the two, his black gaze setting on their green orbs. And they their eyes couldn't be concentrated on, they were too blurry.

"_Hey, Itachi. Thanks."_ Inner Sakura called out her voice booming in the air, yet it was hard to hear.

"Hn."

Even when it was hard too see anything yet he could see tears weld up in the younger Sakura's eyes. His profile blurred even more and little Sakura screamed after him.

He didn't know what he said, but he could see the sadness and distress in her mouth movements. Then it became so out of focus he couldn't distinguish the shapes of Sakura.

The last thing he remembered he saw was the brilliant pink of the cherry blossoms.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Itachi felt sore. His eyes twitched before they opened, that was the first thing that moved. Then his fingers, then his arms, then his body. He was sitting up right, he had done a sort of push up to help him.

"Sleeping beauty has finally awoken and I didn't even have to kiss him," Itachi saw Kisame smile menacingly, showing off all his teeth.

Itachi swung his feet over the lumpy bed. He glanced at his surroundings. Worn blue stripped wallpaper, dirty hardwood floor, a man lying with bits of his torn flesh on the floor.

"How long?" he asked Kisame curtly.

"You've been wasting away? A few days," he growled.

Itachi stood up warily, feeling the floor felt out of place. Only a few days? Hadn't he thought it was years? There was no possible way that the conversations they had could be held in such a short amount of time. Then again, he did not fully grasp the power of the mind.

"Where are we?"

"Some poor village in the Fire Country, about two hours east of where you had your fainting spell."

Itachi didn't say anything, he simply rose off the bed and walked out of the room.

"Where the hell are you going?"

Itachi felt no need to answer to him. With a few hand seals he vanished, the only proof he was there was the lingering smoke

"Figures," Kisame was greatly annoyed. All that waiting for nothing. What the hell was wrong with Itachi?

Which was exactly the question Itachi was asking himself. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but his body willed itself on its own.

The first thing he noticed about outside was that the sky was blue. And not all of the ground was covered with grass, there was worn paths in the ground and some of the greenery were dead and trampled. The flowers grew wild and disordered, different colors clashing with the others. The way the wind tossed his hair felt cool.

This was reality?

x-x-x-x-x-x

Sakura wasn't really sure where you was at first, or how she got there. She blinked once, twice, before she attempted to move. With a reluctant lurch, she pushed herself forward and looked around at her settings.

Guessing from the piles of empty ramen packets that almost but didn't quite make it into the trash, this place was Naruto's. Sakura had seen the place before, but never really explored it.

She felt grimy; she let her hands wipe away an unknown substance that was on her face.

"_Ugh, what is this crap?_" she thought to herself as she warily stood up on her legs, "_Naruto's going to pay!"_

She slowly made her way towards the bathroom, ignoring the mess on the floor. Once in, she examined herself in the mirror. Still the thirteen-year-old, wide forehead girl she had seen last time she looked in the mirror. Except her hair, which she always so diligently worked on, was a rat's nest.

In a slight daze, she brushed pinks strands of her hair with her hand so it wouldn't look so wild, not trusting any of Naruto's hairbrushes. Fingers, though, don't take to tangles very well though, and she ended up pulling out some of her hair.

Wincing slightly, she gave up. It looked fine now anyway. She turned on the faucet and splashed water on her face, she didn't feel so dirty anymore. Something was still missing.

Itachi...

She let the water drip of her face, not moving when the name floated in her mind.

Itachi-_san_.

He was there, in her mind, listening to everything she was.

And she was there...

Sakura.

Listening to everything he was.

"Itachi," she turned one-eighty on her heels before she knew what was happening she was walking towards the door in slow insecure half steps.

"I think"

Her steps grew wider was paced normally.

" I want..."

She increased her tempo to a near jog and opened to door to Naruto's apartment.

"To see..."

Her steps quickened even more as she dashed out of the building.

"_You._" And with that she leaped onto the roof of the buildings and sprinted across them in a speed that only a shinobi could reach. Hoping gracefully she passed some fellow genins she knew, her house, the academy. Where was she heading?

"I know," she whispered. Her destination was clear, and took another flying leap and settled on the ground, racing towards her goal. She ignored the houses and the fields. She paid no heed the sky or the wind.

She left the village and its people and her surroundings of nature became a blur of irregular shapes. She hadn't truly realized how fast she was running until she stopped. Panting heavily, she rested herself by putting her hands on her knees. Now along with her griminess, she felt sticky with sweat. Perfect.

The cherry blossom trees, the only place near the Hidden Leaf village that you could find them. Often when they bloomed there were many festivals held there, but now it was empty- the season has not come yet. The trees looked painfully dull without their ornaments, and hung shamefully in the wind. No one was there...

But Sakura waited without any real expectations. The sun had been high, commanding over the sky when she first arrived, and then she watched it as it slowly bowed to the land, the sky blushing slightly. Her efforts were not unrewarded.

A man, familiar aura of intimidation, cloaked in a bulky robe that showed nothing of his body shape. But she knew who he was, midnight hair and barren eyes. He was standing on the other side of the line of trees.

"Hello. What's your name?" she said as if it were to be teasingly, but for some reason the voice behind it sounded melancholy.

"Uchiha... Itachi."

"That's a funny name. My name is Sakura. Haruno Saura."

The last name didn't seem to faze him and they stood there, staring at each other for a long time.

"They've wilted, there's nothing to see or reason to be here," she said waving her hand carelessly at the trees.

"They'll bloom. It always worth to check, just in case."

Then he turned his back and she knew he readied himself to leave.

"Where are you going?"

He didn't answer.

"I... I want to come too, Itachi-san."

He didn't move, and she didn't completely understand what she was saying. She _knew_ what she had to do. She had to go home, and eat dinner with her family. Then perhaps, she would 'accidentally' wander into her favorite tea shop at the same time as Ino, where they would accidentally sit in the same table, insulting each other in light tones over their drinks. She had to lecture Naruto for calling Sasuke rude things, she had to wait for Sasuke to arrive wherever they needed to be and stare at him in wonderment until the rest came, then she would yell at Kakashi-sensei for being late.

She had to stay, but there was a part of her that didn't listen to her reason.

He didn't say anything but he turned his face so he could see her in the side of his vision, a wordless invitation. Sakura wandered to his side, not really aware what was going to happen next.

Wordlessly, he took off his head protector, the Konoha symbol etched off with a lazy slash through it. He discarded it, he was no longer a missing nin. He was a traveler.

Sakura, understood, and wordlessly dropped her own head protector on the ground, she wasn't a leaf kunoichi now. She too was a traveler.

She didn't know where they were going. She didn't know why she was going, it wasn't like the night she had given her vows of dedication to Sasuke. She wasn't sure how long she was going to be gone; maybe a few days- maybe for the rest of her life.

She didn't have any of her regulations, any of her boundaries.

She was just walking side by side with the killer. Just because he let her.

x-x-x-x-x-x

AN They woke up. Yeay. Well I'm glad I got this chapter out, didn't think it would be so quick. Originally I planned to make this the end but I decided against it. I have a different ending in view. Chapters wont come out frequently though, not when I'm in the midst of college.

I wish I could make this note longer, but I'm pooped.


End file.
